El Llano transitional housing project discussed for nearly 3 hours
Proposals for temporary and long-term transitional housing projects on a city-owned property in El Llano created controversy at the Feb. 25 Española City Council meeting.
Perceived miscommunication between administrative staff and the City Council, failed attempts to review meeting material by city leaders and a split public response led to tears, cursing and high emotions from elected officials, city leaders and the public.
For nearly three hours, Social Services Director Michelle Fraire, city councilors, City Manager Eric Lujan and the public discussed the temporary and long-term transitional housing plans.
Opinions ranged from the modular homes offering a solution to the city’s gap in services meant to end homelessness, to the questioning of the city’s transparency practices, ability to follow state procurement rules and a “not in my backyard” rejection of the plan itself.
The controversy started with the meeting’s agenda packet, which included a series of documents with information regarding the temporary and long-term transitional housing plans.
Both would utilize small, modular units.
The proposal
According to Fraire’s and District 3 City Councilor Denise Benavidez’s comments at the council meeting, the city of Santa Fe offered to lend modular units to Española for a six-month transitional housing pilot program. Fraire also attended the Feb. 5 legislative session meeting to request funds for a long-term transitional housing project within the city.
Whether Benavidez and Fraire were truthful in their statements at the council meeting is now being questioned. In a recent article appearing in the Santa Fe New Mexican, Fraire said her department reached out to Santa Fe regarding the modular homes. The article also quotes Henri Hammond, Santa Fe’s Community Health and Safety director, who said they offered to lend Española six homes.
According to the documents, the proposed project would be in conjunction with Pecos Valley Counseling, which would provide the wrap-around services to the people who reside at the modular home site.
The packet included a project scope of work, proposal and a memo submitted to Planning and Land Use Director Ernest Martinez requesting approval for the placement of the modular homes in El Llano, as well a project support letter from the Crisis Center of Northern New Mexico.
According to the scope of work, the project would need a first-year operating budget of $3 to $4.5 million, which includes property acquisition, operations and maintenance, staffing and wrap-around services costs. Then, the annual operating budget would range form $1.5 to $2 million.
Program goals include a 30% reduction in the homeless population of the city within five years and helping 60-70% of participants move to permanent housing within 18 months.
The memo includes a detailed project timeline of achievable benchmarks by month, a list of services to be offered to residents, a plan for funding and a list of partners.
Fraire said she presented this information at the legislature as part of the city’s request for $4 million in funding.
She also said that bringing modular homes to Española was originally discussed during an October town hall meeting at the Misión y Convento, and that information regarding this plan is not new to the public.
Benavidez said the City of Santa Fe contacted her with the offer to lend Española the units, due to its work over the last year to address the homelessness issue.
While Fraire’s proposal and Benavidez refer to the transitional housing units as modular homes, city officials and the public commonly refer to them as “Pallet homes” and the site as a “Pallet home village,” after the name of the company that manufactures them.
According to the Pallet website, the modular homes are part of a transitional housing model that was developed with the input of people who experienced homelessness.
“Our transitional housing model works in collaboration with third-party, on-site service providers,” the website said. “Service providers that are local to the community work with residents to track down Social Security numbers, access mental health services, and address other barriers to permanent housing.”
Controversy
kick-off
The controversy over the proposal began days before the meeting when packet material began circulating on at least two Española-focused Facebook groups.
The proposal was part of the meeting agenda information packet, which is released to councilors and the public several days prior to the meeting. According to social media posts, constituents reached out to District 4 City Councilor Sam LeDoux with concerns about Fraire’s director’s report and the lack of transparency by the city and lack of opportunity for residents to provide input on a plan that is seemingly far along.
LeDoux questioned why the city did not hold a public forum to discuss the pallet homes like neighboring Santa Fe, which has been working on a similar project since 2024.
“Considering the amount of speeding on El Llano road, the proximity to the high school, and the fact that this impacts not only the city, but Ohkay Owingeh and 2 counties, there should have been more public notice,” LeDoux wrote in his post.
In a telephone interview, LeDoux said he did not know about the latest status of the pallet home project prior to the meeting, did not know Fraire went to the legislature to request funding and cited a lack of communication between administrators and the council.
and community comment
During public comment, community members spoke in favor of and against the temporary and long-term transitional housing projects, as well as Pecos Valley, the agency partner listed in Fraire’s director’s report.
One woman, who identified herself as a former Los Alamos County social services director, said Fraire went “rogue” in seeking funding without knowledge of the council. Others expressed concern about the proposed site’s proximity to Española Valley High School and whether those experiencing homelessness are even from the community.
There was also concern about Pecos Valley being named as the lead agency on the project without a formal Request for Proposals process being completed, as well as who would be eligible for residency at any transnational home site.
City manager
response
Lujan said he was unaware of Benavidez’s conversation with the city of Santa Fe and the plans for the temporary pallet home village plan until the council meeting and that he did not review the meeting packet, including Fraire’s director’s report, prior to the Feb. 25 meeting.
“Michelle’s (Fraire) report should not have been like that and I should have reviewed it,” he said in a telephone interview.
Lujan defended Fraire against allegations that she went “rogue” in her funding request at the state legislature.
The city has a team of lobbyists for the legislative session, and while Fraire is not on that team, he was aware of her February legislature visit and was with her.
In response to the social media controversy, Lujan said it is an “attack on the administration” carried out by a council member, referring to LeDoux.
Lujan also said that if the transitional housing project moves forward, the city would follow all state and local procurement rules and regulations, and though it’s listed in city documents, Pecos Valley is not the default agency for the project.
Pecos Valley is an example and a community success story, Lujan said, but the city would issue a Request for Proposals and all interested agencies would have the opportunity to submit one for consideration.
Lujan also said that transitional homes are meant to be for people who have experienced domestic violence and residents would come from the shelter.
Communication
In her tearful response, Mayor Pro Tem Peggy Sue Martinez said she was unable to access the meeting materials, and was unable to see all the documents without printing them out.
“Me finding out about stuff on social media, me finding out about stuff when somebody’s calling me, me finding out about stuff after a letter was sent to Planning and Zoning, me finding out about this stuff and then after the fact, where I already discussed things with people that trust me,” Martinez said. “It creates mistrust because it sounds like I lied. And there’s where I get offended.”
District 1 Councilor Pedro Valdez rebuked Martinez’s claim that the information was not made available to the council members and thanked Fraire for her work.
“I just want to say that I was aware of all these things that are happening that you can continue saying that we haven’t heard about it,” Valdez said while looking at Martinez. “But like I said, I read all the information that Michelle has given us, Denise and others and the city manager. And I am glad I get involved in those things.”
There was a consensus amongst the councilors, Mayor John Ramon Vigil and Lujan that there needed to be better communication between city staff and elected officials about plans within the Social Services Department going forward.
Next steps
The council was not scheduled to discuss the temporary and long-term transitional housing projects at the Tuesday meeting, as there was no agenda item listed for that topic.
Vigil said no formal plans for any transitional housing projects have been sent to the council for approval.
“Until it is placed on the city council meeting for potential approval or disapproval of the concept, the city cannot move in any specific direction until the governing body formally takes up the proposal,” he said.